


and who are they to tell us if we are

by Spoofymcgee



Series: AU-gust 2020 [7]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, But he is, D E C E A S E D, Dead Sheev Palpatine, Fluff without Plot, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Gen, actually none, and he asked quinlan to go pick anakin up from palps, and immediately freaks the heck out, and procceeds to flip out once again, and then he takes a minute to compose himself and realizes, because obi-wan's padawan is shrouded in the dark side, but obi-wan was busy one afternoon, he's dead, honestly, just these two bois, like no plot, no anakin isn't actually fallen, no don't answer that, not mentioned, quinlan gets there, the anxious little mechanic anakin we deserve, the dark is coming from the chancellor, they get back to the temple safely and sheev d i e s, what the heck, when have i ever left him alive, yup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoofymcgee/pseuds/Spoofymcgee
Summary: anakin isn't exactly sure how to explain to cody why obi-wan sometimes holds long, intense discussions with thin air. obi-wan certainly won't do it himself, and master quinlan's mission ends in a week, so he's running out of time.cody has decided to mark this up as weird force osik, and he's ninety-nine percent sure razor is behind the splotchy bright paint staining the inside of his shell.mace is, as always So Done with everything.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Quinlan Vos
Series: AU-gust 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861135
Comments: 8
Kudos: 158





	and who are they to tell us if we are

**Author's Note:**

> day 7: childhood friends au

“Hey, um, Commander Cody? Do you have a minute? There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” It’s unsurprising to see Skywalker pop his head out of a maintenance room, grease smudged across his face and staining rolled up sleeves of the lighter undershirt replacing his tunics. What is abnormal is the rather nervous tone paired with the request. In the two months since they’d met each other, his general’s apprentice had barely thrown a handful of overconfident, arrogant sentences his way.    
It wasn’t a clone thing; more than half of the 501st would be singing their general’s praises the second you asked them to. He could occasionally be convinced to let his guard down around some of the lower ranking members of the 212th; it was just Cody.   
“Of course, general,” Cody answers, because he is a professional and he does know how to go by protocol, _ thank you very much, Wolffe.  _ “What can I help you with, sir?”   
“It’s about Obi-Wan,” the kid says, fidgeting with the edge of his jumpsuit; a spare from engineering, probably.  _ This _ is Anakin Skywalker, Cody realizes with a start. It’s a side of him he’s heard a bit about from his  _ vod _ , already so protective of his general, but not much. However loyal Rex may be to his brothers, he never shares secrets that aren’t his to tell. “He’s, erm, he’s going to start randomly addressing thin air by the name of Quinlan and occasionally kicking it in about a week or so. I need you not to worry about it, and tell the men not to either.”   
“Sir?” Cody asks, because  _ what the fuck. _ _   
_ “It’s really complicated.” Skywalker looks almost pained. He reaches out a hand, just in time to catch the removed wall panel from falling to the floor with an incredibly loud crash.   
“I’ve got time, sir.” Cody shoots back, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.   
“I-okay,” Skywalker relents. “But would you mind if I finish fixing this while we talk? I promised ‘Stick I’d get it finished by third shift.” He gestures to the bared guts of the ship, and Cody nods. The room feels cramped with both of them, entirely filled by machinery as the smaller engine rooms often wont to be, with just enough crawl space for one standard human or two and a third small monkeylizards.   
“Well,” he says, once his hands are occupied. “He and Master Quinlan Vos are this thing called a Force dyad. At least, that’s what they think it is. No one’s really sure, because there are almost no records of-” he notices Cody’s expression and ducks his head. “Right. So, Force dyads. Basically, their Force signatures are inextricably linked to each other.” He pauses again to look at Cody, and sighs. “You have no idea what I just said.” It’s not a judgement, simply a statement, disappointment fully directed at the trainers on Kamino and not him.    
“No sir.”   
“It’s like-it’s hard to explain the Force to someone who can’t really feel it. To be honest, I don’t understand it fully. I don’t know that anyone does, really. Um, it’s kind of like another sense, sort of. I can feel people; their emotions and intentions, but also-ugh.”   
“Maybe just explain Force signatures, sir.” Cody suggests, shifting. Anakin cheers immediately.   
“Great idea. Have you ever seen Obi-Wan meditate?” he asks, and grins brightly at Cody’s nod. “Wonderful. Force signatures are-I close my eyes to meditate, right? And it’s like I can still see everything. Not inanimate objects, like rocks and water and stuff, but people and all living things. Like, um, like you don’t look like Cody; you look like a Cody shaped blob of light. And everyone’s shape and the color of the light is different.” he says, and Cody thinks he’s beginning to understand.    
“And General Vos’ is linked with General Kenobi’s?” he says, and Anakin nods vigorously.    
“Yeah. So it’s kinda like Obi-Wan’s light has a shadow shaped like Master Quinlan, and vice versa. But it’s not abnormal to form Force bonds. Obi-Wan and I have one,” Cody takes it back, he doesn’t understand anymore. If it’s not a big deal, why is he being told this? “Force dyads are different, though,” Anakin says hastily, realizing he’s losing his audience. “A lot of masters and padawans have a training bond; which is like being able to reach out and touch someone else’s signature, their mind. You’re linked to them, but it’s less intense. You can hear their thoughts and emotions-if they let you. Other stuff, sometimes, but I won’t get into that now. Theirs… It’s an unprecedented case. Sometimes the Force makes bonds, ties people together, and they don’t really get a choice. They can break it, but that’s an incredibly painful process. For them, it’s like they share one mind. They’re entrenched, apparently, and they have been since the moment they met.” Cody is, if it’s possible, more confused now than he was at the beginning. Anakin seems to realize this. “Important thing is, for Obi-Wan it’s like Master Quinlan is there with him, right next to him. Not right now; because he’s on a high-risk mission and they can’t risk it; something about telepaths and a beacon in the Force, I don’t know. But it apparently hurts a lot to cut it off for too long.”   
“So basically, they’re linked, which means General Kenobi… always sees General Vos with him? And ignoring trying not to makes them both sick.” Anakin ducks his head again, but nods.   
“Yeah, pretty much. Vos can be a little bit of a jerk, but Obi-Wan cares about him, so we tolerate him.” And now Cody looks aggravated.    
“You could have started with that, sir.” Anakin bites his lip guiltily.   
“Sorry. So, if you could…” he gestures vaguely.    
“I will,” Cody confirms. “See you at mess in a few hours.” Anakin opens his mouth, and promptly snaps it shut again at Cody’s raised brow.   
“You will,” he confirms. “And Commander?”   
“Mmm?”   
“Thank you.”   
  
They're in a briefing when it happens. Cody's been expecting it, and it surprises him all the same.

It's not like anything he's ever seen before. The only warning they get is the way Kenobi's mouth curls up at the corner, and then he's practically glowing.

Metaphorically, Cody feels the need to specify, then wants to go find a nice airlock.

Obi-Wan's smiling, nothing like the little grins he'd worn during the months they'd been together; generally smug or self-satisfied, all a direct result of either winning an argument with his former padawan or watching said padawan do something incredibly dumb.

No, this smile could light the whole of Coruscant if it wanted to.

He straightens, as though someone's lifted a planet off his shoulders. 

"He's back?" Anakin asks, his own grin settling into place. Kenobi nods happily, and they continue, almost as if nothing had happened. Almost.

"Will he just be like this now?" Cody asks quietly, with some measure of concern, stepping into stride with Anakin on the way to the training rooms once they've finished.

"Nah," the Jedi answers, tucking both hands into his pockets. "Just for a day or so. Then Master Vos will do something to annoy him, like dropping a very small subspecies of monkeylizard down the back of his tunics and he'll be back to normal." Cody's brows furrow.

"From halfway across the galaxy?" he asks.

"Force dyad." Skywalker says, grinning slightly. It's accompanied by a sinking feeling in Cody's gut that he's going to be hearing those words a whole lot in the near future.

They're trudging back to the ship a few months later after a grueling battle on a particularly unpleasant planet, when Anakin inhales sharply, and turns to Kenobi, eyes wide.

"You know the teleportation thing you do?" he asks, almost slightly frantic.

"...Yes." Obi-Wan answers, warily.

"Can you do it with people? Like, not you two, but other people?" Kenobi looks thoughtful for a moment. A single drop of rain lands squarely on his nose, and that's all the warning they have before it starts pouring in earnest. 

"Let's get back to the ship before we try," he suggests, and sets off at a brisk pace.

“Sir, with all due respect, but what the  _ fuck _ ?” Stak asks, staring at the floating lightsaber. This is indeed a very good question, Ponds thinks, if rather crudely phrased, as General Kenobi’s lightsaber has shown no tendency towards floating on any of the other two missions the 91st has fought with the 212th this past year. He’s fairly sure he trusts Cody to have mentioned something like that by now if it had.    
Ponds would simply have assumed it was simple usage of the Force; he’d seen his general employ such many times so far, though not with his lightsaber, which he never dropped as Kenobi did. He would have, if Kenobi had not still been wearing the suppressant cuffs as part of his disguise. The 'saber drifts over to the redheaded general, and something starts pulling at his cuffs. 

"Stop, I'm taking them off!" It tugs more insistently. Kenobi giggles, and if it isn't the purest sound Ponds has ever heard. "Stop, Quin!" 

He gets the suppressants off, and proceeds to remove his robe, and chuck it over the  _ something _ . The rough fabric outlines a vaguely humanoid form. Fingers press upward. They wiggle. 

"Force help me, Vos, if you don't stop right now, then-" a pebble bounces off Mace's forehead, right above the fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He inhales sharply. The figure pulls Kenobi's robe off his head, pulling it on the proper way and striding off, laughing general in tow. 

A general comm pings on his readout. It's from Razor.

_ 'Does this mean I win the bet?' _

_ 'Negative.'  _ Cody chimes back. _ 'General Vos is not a ghost. This just happens sometimes.' _

Razor deflates. Mace sighs, grabs Ponds' vambrace and Stak's pauldron and drags them both off to medical. 

He wakes up with a faceful of hair. A year and a half  _ (a lifetime) _ ago, it might have annoyed him. Today, he's been on a mission for the past three weeks and the cot is taunt and prickly beneath him and he aches to his very bones. He sighs, tugs Quin closer, and goes back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm... sorry


End file.
